Arabic version: رجال مقنّعون يهاجمون عيادة للصحة النفسية للشباب في صنشاين

According to ABC News, youth mental health workers have been directed to work off-site after four masked men entered a Sunshine clinic in Melbourne’s west with machetes and assaulted patients.

Victoria Police said officers attended the centre at about 3.50pm on Tuesday after four males entered and assaulted two men. The victims, aged 19 and from Melton and Wyndham Vale, were not physically injured, police said. The offenders left the scene in a vehicle. Police said the investigation was continuing and that the men appeared to be known to each other.

The Parkville Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Service has a clinic within the Sunshine Visy Cares Hub, where several community services operate. Staff who treat children with severe or complex mental health challenges were directed to work elsewhere following the violence. Workers said chairs were thrown and that the incident appeared to target one patient, while another was injured in the fray.

The incident followed a series of assaults on staff at the service. A notice pinned at the centre warned of ongoing physical risks to staff from occupational violence and aggression, including armed assaults and numerous “code blacks”. Another notice referred to psychosocial hazards and exposure to traumatic events.

Health and Community Services Union state secretary Paul Healey described the attack as “completely unacceptable and deeply distressing” and supported the decision to move staff off-site until the workplace is safe. Orygen, which runs Headspace and has a clinic in the hub, said providing a safe space for staff, young people and families was a priority. Police urged witnesses or anyone with information, CCTV or dashcam footage to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential online report.